towerofanimus | ☠ 005 | you said we were born with nothing

Entry tags:

☠ 005 | you said we were born with nothing

Characters: Avenger, 'Shirou' and OPEN to all.
Setting: The graveyard on the forty-eighth floor and the hundredth floor.
Format: The exact opposite of Kotomine Kirei's lovingly composed monologues.
Summary: 'Shirou,' on his way down to the cafeteria to do his regular job, comes across the evidence of Rin's departure, and also Archer's disappearance as well. He's not happy.
Warnings: Typical fare for the Tower of Animus such as mentions of death, the destruction of worlds, and sadness.

[ SCENARIO A || FLOOR 48: OUTSIDE ]
[ This was a floor of pointless mausoleums, open graves, and fields of unattended gravestones. Some of the names littered on the headstones he recognized and knew—llya, Sakura, himself. He came by here every morning on his way down to the cafeteria to see them, and that routine never varied. 'Shirou' didn't leave flowers at their graves; it seemed a paltry gesture for failure to keep them safe and well. So, normally he would stand there and talk a little about random things. Saber, the food being a lie, what information they had found out, a video game he'd played in the media room.

But when he came down this morning, there was an unexpected new name among the graves.

Matou Rin, carved into the stone like it meant nothing at all. Like it didn't mean the magus was now in terrible danger, from Ruana's power-sapping to supply the Tower now that the power cores were running out. Like it didn't mean there was now another girl roaming the desolate, destroyed land of the world she came from like so many others. Like it didn't mean another failure.

His knees suddenly seemed too weak to hold him up, and he sat down hard on his rear in front of the gravemarker, one small slab of stone with a polished surface and scratched edges in the lines of gravemarkers stretching out like small, gray pittances. Shirou sat there and rebuked himself, feeling hollow as he thought about Rin, wandering alone in the ruined landscape of her world. And also thought more angry thoughts about how he was going to make the administrators pay for this injustice.

And that's how any nearby passerby's will find the teenager. ]

[ SCENARIO B || FLOOR 100: THE HOLOGRAM ]
[ For those of you who don't give a shit about 'Shirou's little episode of upset—a Servant is slowly pacing about this floor, late within the depths of night. He seems to be vaguely confused.

His back is turned towards the staircase, his face turned away from it. It looks like he's trying to figure something out; ]

—Mm?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes...it's me.

[Anger aside, Diarmuid is kind of confused. Part of him had expected Avenger to be angry with him as well because he was Waver's servant, but perhaps Waver had not mentioned that fact? Or had not had the time too? He had said the attacked was...unpredictable just as so much else about Avenger is.

Diarmuid takes a deep breath and forces himself to calm down. He had promised Waver he wouldn't case more trouble with Avenger than needed--at least not when he was alone.]

He...must not have mentioned me to you. If that is for better or worse, I don't know.

[There is part of him that still wants to fight Avenger for what he did, but another part is pointing out it would be best not to if for no other reason that he is distracted right now by the news of Rin leaving the tower and as a result his focus is not as good as it should be.]

[ Avenger doesn't appear especially welcoming towards him at least. His stance is, as usual, wary but loose with the carelessness of somebody who had never once been trained in formal combat and instead learned to fight through being put into the actual battles themselves.

He stares, folding his arms across his chest. Bafflement, like he doesn't realize what Diarmuid's talking about or who he's referencing; ]

Who didn't mentioned you to me? Why would—huh, come to think of it...

[ Then; considering Diarmuid's obvious fury, and the fact that, while he was aware his existence generally was grounds for elimination in the eyes of the other Servants, he'd behaved himself recently well enough that there was a very narrow range of acts in that span of time he could have committed that would have enraged mister chivalry to this extent, Avenger made the connection. He'd attacked that magus well over a week ago, and it seemed a friend of his was now reacting accordingly. ]

Mm, do you have a bone to pick with me, Lancer?

That depends, can you give me a good reason why you nearly strangled and then stabbed my Master?

[Diarmuid's voice is level and strangely calm as he speaks, though his anger is still clear in his eyes. In his word choice as well. Before he has always referred to Waver as his friend since that part of their relationship was more important than the master/servant part, but after everything that has happened Diarmuid isn't content with just being seen as Waver's friend anymore. He wants people to know that if they mess with Waver, they are also messing with him. Not as a friend, but as a Servant.

Of course, he really doesn't think Avenger will care since it's Avenger and he seems to care about things randomly if he cares about them at all, but Diarmuid still feels the need to do it.]

[ The expression on the embodiment of all evils' face said that he didn't really see why he personally would need a good reason to hurt a human, any human, never mind who they were connected to. It shows in the way his first words are a nearly-bemused, mocking repeat of Diarmuid's question. ]

A 'reason?' Because he's an annoying, pushy twit.

[ And with a vaguely more irritated tone of voice; ] Also, he kicked me and interrupted my nap.

[ By tripping over him, which was rude. And well, if Waver was Diarmuid's Master that explained where he'd heard of Avenger's class title from at least, and why the Servant was so furious over the brutal injuries that the magus had incurred as the results of his encounter with Avenger in the meadow. One or two minor puzzles solved. ]

[ A huff. ] He should be glad I wasn't aiming to kill.

Edited 2013-07-16 05:40 (UTC)

[Diarmuid doesn't respond right away mainly because he's just managing not to say 'It doesn't matter if he is an annoying, pushy twit. He's my annoying, pushy twit and you had no right to harm him." Somehow he's pretty sure that argument won't convincing to anyone let alone someone like Avenger.]

You nearly killed him because he accidentally interrupted your nap.

[He knows Waver well enough to realize that even if he had actually kicked Avenger, there was no way it was done on purpose...]

If you are expecting me to thank you for not aiming to kill, you might be waiting a long time. There was no reason to hurt him at all! Just roll over and go back to sleep! What the hell is wrong with you?

I don't expect thankfulness from anybody, including you. [ He corrected Diarmuid. He never expected thanks, that was true. Or apologies, unless they were from the iron lady. Back to the main topic; ]

Oh yeah, I guess you could say that?

[ Besides, Waver had been the one to first suggest trying to eviscerate him, Avenger taken him at his word. Or was the main topic what the hell was wrong with him, since the Servant fairly sure there were an endless multitude of things wrong with him, though he didn't count his impulse to kill people as one of them. He sounds cheerful when he says; ] Natural inclinations, you see.

[ Angra held up his hands. ]

Look, I get that you're pissed I hurt your Master, I'd been irritated if somebody hurt my boss too, but are you gonna do anything to get even? [ Like to know if he should brace himself for a dogfight. ]

Do you want me to do something to get even?

[Honestly, the question Avenger asks is the wrong one. Does Diarmuid want to do something to Avenger to make him pay for what he did to Waver? That answer is an unhesitating yes.

Will he, though? That answer he is far less sure of since he had promised Waver not to do anything stupid if he happened to run into Avenger.]

Tell me this. If you meet my Master again, do you plan on attacking him again?

Not really, nope.

[ Avenger shrugs and shakes his head, dropping his hands back to his sides. ]

I have no specific desire to stage a repeat of that little episode unless your Master is, for some reason, intent on making himself particularly annoying to me. [ Hopefully, that is not the case. He inhales, then exhales. ] Didn't I say this before? If you and yours leave me alone, I'll do the same.

[Diarmuid sighs, shutting his eyes for a moment.]

Unfortunately, some people tend to find my master extremely annoying whether he is trying to be or not. If he has annoyed you once, it is likely he will do it again through no intent of his own.

[Diarmuid pauses here, wondering if he should really add what he is thinking and deciding that, yes, maybe it might be for the best.]

This is especially true when he is curious about something. Did...he ask you anything when you met the first time? Or did you not give him the chance?

I ain't surprised.

[ Avenger huffs faintly. ]

Hey, do you seriously think I went right for his throat immediately? [ The Servant curled the fingers of one hand together. The ragged, red mantle tied around his waist swished a little as he shifted his weight. ] Yeah, he asked a few questions... Your Master was irritating but I answered two of 'em. Then I went for his throat.

[Diarmuid's eyes drift to the motion of Avenger's hand and narrow as he imagines those fingers wrapped around Waver's throat. Unconsciously, one of his own hands curls into a fist.

Avenger's causal way of talking about the attack doesn't help the anger that is slowly starting to rise in him again.]

The only thing I expect from you is the unexpected. You can do anything at any time or nothing at all. Am I wrong to expect that?

[ Why shouldn't he discuss it casually? It wasn't an important event to him. To see everything as an object to kill, is to not feel any shame you physically damaged it. He hadn't even launched the attack all that seriously, aiming only to hurt Waver instead of murder him.

Avenger chuckles at Diarmuid's next question, lifting a hand up and rubbing the back of his head. ]

I guess not! Your faith in my abilities is touching, but unfortunately I'm awfully limited here. There's only so much I can do.

[Perhaps Avenger would better understand Diarmuid's anger if it had been his master or someone close to him who had been attacked instead. But perhaps not. Diarmuid really isn't ready to assume anything about the other servant besides how unpredictable he can be.]

I expect even limited you could easily be fatal to most of the beings in this Tower if you set your mind to it. And maybe even if you didn't since you did quite a bit of damage to my Master and you have made it quite clear you weren't even trying.

Would it be dangerous to my well-being to inquire about the questions my Master asked you?

Ah? [ Angra is honestly puzzled, not by Diarmuid's anger (he's used to anger, very used to it) but his view of him. Avenger knows his own weakness, knows he is pathetically weak and useless (to an extent) and careless. He's not like a regular person, there are so many pieces of him that are warped, replaced or plain gone altogether. For example; the parts of him that can process emotions or ideas in certain ways that aren't destructive.

Then an unconcerned shrug. ]

No, it wouldn't. Your Master asked what I was doing with the Grail, and if I was responsible for the fire that set a good portion of Fuyuki City alight, that's it.

Edited 2013-07-19 05:04 (UTC)

You seem surprised by my answer. Why is that? How is it you see yourself if my views of you seem so confusing?

[Diarmuid is also puzzled though for a different reason. To him, Avenger seems to try hard to project a certain image of himself, but obviously somewhere that image isn't quite translating if Diarmuid's views of him throw the other servant so much.]

What are you doing with the Grail? That is an answer I would like to know as well. Do you strive to have a wish granted or do you look for more?

Do I want to know what questions you decided not to answer and why?

None of your beeswax, Lancer.

[ Avenger, if his puzzlement showed through for a moment, immediately recovers and returns to his normal self, replies with a smirk. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact he'd always taken a sort of bizarre pride in the fact he was the weakest of Servants, after all; to be taken seriously in terms of combat and the damage he alone can inflict as a mere Servant is damn strange.

(To be fair: he'd only ever fought other Servants. Humans were within his playing range and much easier, in comparison.) ]

The Grail? Nothing, really. What became of it was a result, not a... [ Pre-mediatated action? Purposefully done sabotage? He rolls his eyes. ]

I don't want anything from the Grail. I have no wish that I could give it to be granted and even if I did, the Grail would not recognize it. In that way, it's totally and absolutely useless to me.

[ The last question earns a flat look. ]

[While it might have been nice to get an answer, Diarmuid isn't really surprised that Avenger doesn't give him one. He had been trying to exploit what seemed to be a moment of true emotion in the other servant, but no part of him had really expected Avenger to fall into the trap.

Not with how unpredictable he is.

The flat look at his last question does catch Diarmuid's attention, though.]

What? Why does that question bother you when the others did not? Did he ask you something you really didn't want to answer or think about?

[ No, the flat look is because that was literally a question that basically answered itself because Waver was an annoying person, and that was all the reason Avenger could have needed to... not give him any answers.

So asking it seemed silly to him. ]

No, I found him a bothersome guy, remember? You don't have short-term memory loss or anything, do ya'? Why should I answer his questions unless I felt like it.

You will have to forgive me since I don't find him a 'bothersome' guy myself, I sometimes forget that others feel that strongly about it. Call it what you will.

And the answer to why you should have answered is because it would have been polite, but I am sure that is not a word you are all that familiar with.

[Diarmuid shrugs and falls quiet for a moment before nodding out at the room they are standing in.]

So what do you see here? I have to admit, I am pretty surprised to find someone like you on a floor like this, though I suppose even you must have some place you miss from your home.

[ Finding someone annoying is not that strong of an emotion to feel.

Hahah, politeness. Manners? Nah. ]

Here? [ Angra glanced over the floor again. Really, it's a good thing Naoya informed him of the trick to this floor or he'd have no idea what Diarmuid was talking about. No, there isn't any projections he sees; it's just a bare, metal room like the rest of the Tower.

He laughs, quietly. Like it's funny to him. ] I don't see anything. There's nothing here.

Nothing at all?

[Both the look Diarmuid gives Avenger and the tone of his voice are startled and confused.]

I have never heard of someone who didn't see something. Maybe not much and maybe not what they expect, but they all see something.

What are you that you miss nothing even a little? Or...

[Diarmuid pales slightly as a thought crosses his mind.]

...is it actually nothingness that you miss?

[ It's hard to miss places where you remember being tortured and/or dying horribly, honestly.

Sucks that most of his memories involve both of that anyway.

He didn't care for his homeland, and Fuyuki City was only appealing because Bazett and Caren had been there. What was worth missing about a place itself? ]

Nothingness?

[ He blinks. ]

No, actually I don't really miss nothingness. Not much happens there, ya' know? Awfully dull...

[Diarmuid doesn't answer right away. He's not really sure what to think of all of that. There is one thing he feels immediately, but he has a feeling that letting Avenger know he feels that way might not be the best idea. Yet as time passes and he thinks more about what he has heard, he realizes that reaction is really the only one he has.]

I...am sorry for you. If you have so little attachment to anything that you see nothing here, they you really haven't lived life and no one should have to suffer that.

[ Avenger looks at him like Diarmuid had just pissed his pants in front of him and decided to take the time out of his day to inform of said mishap.

It's surprising how calmly he replies. It's not anger. But there is definitively an emotion in there. ]

Don't give me anything as useless as your pity, asshole. If you don't understand something, then don't let your misconceptions motivate you into feeling sorry for it. That's wrong, and it's even worse than condemning it to boot.

[Diarmuid raises a curious eyebrow at Avenger. He doesn't miss that flash of emotion, though he's not sure what to think of it since, as usual, Avenger is good at masking what exactly the emotion is.

Still, that he's showing something more genuine than his usual mask is something. Whether that something is good or bad remains to be seen.]

It's true. I don't understand you. That is something that is reinforced every time we talk, and still I feel a need to try and understand even if that attempt is doomed to fail.

Doesn't seeing nothing here make you wonder about yourself? Most people care about something--even if it is just themselves--enough that it would be reflected in this room and yet you don't even have that. Are you just that disconnected from your past? That disconnected from even yourself that there really is nothing?

[Diarmuid falls silent then, as if realizing he is asking very personal questions to someone who is emotionally unpredictable at best and is already showing signs of being upset. Still, the questions have been asked and he can't take them back.

If his own cursed curiosity gets him hurt or killed here, though, he's never going to hear the end of it from Waver...]

B

B

B (Mr Chivalry. Avenger should actually call him that out loud... LOL!)

B (lmao, maybe he will at some point!)

B (It would be hilarous!)

B (I will do my best |D)

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B